Ron Desantis is what the post-trump GOP should look like

If Florida Gov. Ron Desantis ever sets up a presidential exploratory committee, it should have to disclose an enormous in-kind contribution from CBS News.

The “60 Minutes” segment this past weekend alleging that Desantis distributed the

COVID-19 vaccine through pharmacies at the Publix grocery store chain as part of a quid pro quo was so outlandishly wrong that even Democratic officials in the state have objected.

It’s not clear that the “60 Minutes” piece can even be called “journalistic malpractice,” since it barely qualifies as journalism.

The downside for Desantis is that he’s been smeared by the most iconic news magazine show on American television; the upside is that this latest, swiftly debunked media attack contributes to his ongoing ascent in the Republican political firmament. It’s much too early to know with any certainty what the post-trump GOP will look like, or even if there will be a genuinely post-trump GOP for years. But if a post-trump GOP looks like Ron Desantis, who has a populist edge and is combative with the press, yet is unquestionably serious about governing and is succeeding in the third-most populous state in the nation, it will have landed in a favorable place.

Desantis has navigated the Trump years with a deft political touch. He obviously went out of his way to identify himself with Trump at the outset of his gubernatorial run in 2018.

Desantis took the boost he got from Trump’s support, won a contested Republican primary, and then captured the Florida governorship.

Rich Lowry is on Twitter @Richlowry